Problems Encountered in Growing Churches Willow Creek Community Church and New Hope Missionary Baptist ChurchWillow Creek Community Church Overview Willow Creek Case Studies have addressed several issues that were addressed by leaders. These problems included leadership burnout, ministry overload, and the need to expand buildings to accommodate growing numbers of members. Willow Creek addressed the problem of leadership burnout by sharing teaching duties among several teaching pastors. The explosive growth of the Church has led to additional problems such as ministry overload and a need for more physical space. Overworked ministries were relieved by a restructuring of ministry leadership. This restructuring made it possible to organically produce additional leaders within the ministries themselves. History of New Hope Missionary Baptist Church (NHMBC) began in 1987 in the living room of Rev. and Mrs. Leroy Mitchell. After spending nine months in a church in Sycamore, Rev. Mitchell and all members of Dekalb were excommunicated due to underlying friction between Sycamore's African Americans and those in Dekalb. Over the next year, core members held services in many locations, eventually settling at a local Seventh-day Adventist church that became New Hope's home for the next twelve years. During this twelve-year period, New Hope purchased dozens of acres of farmland and began developing building plans. In 1998, construction began on the building New Hope would inhabit. In 2000, New Hope members moved into their new home without ever missing a Sunday service. Time heals and New Hope reconciled with North Ave Baptist having regular scholarships together. Explosive Growth It is evident that the problems are similar in Willow Creek and New Hope, as both have experienced great growth. They address these issues by adding additional services and assigning small groups or ministries to meet the needs of their congregation. They were able to resolve the issue based on the individual needs of each church. Willow Creek has added services to accommodate service seekers or non-believers. New Hope attempts to meet the needs of congregation members by joining auxiliaries or other church ministries. Willow Creek's strategy can be summed up simply in three steps: plan, align and learn. This constant process means that each step supports the next step, while building on the previous one to continue. New Hope's strategy is to mentor young people into ministry leadership positions for the future of New Hope. Willow Creek faces the challenge of keeping up with non-religious services and helping to integrate non-believers into the Willow family..